Class 5 girl raped, murdered near Pune

An eleven-year-old girl studying in fifth standard was found raped and murdered on Friday in Daund taluk of Pune district.

According to police, on Thursday morning, victim had gone to attend the school where she was to appear for class test. However when her father, a farmer, reached school to bring her back, she was not there.

By evening when the victim did not turn up home, family members of the victim along with local residents launched a search. After hours, victim's body was recovered from the nearby sugarcane farm.

Additional superintendent of police Ravindrasinh Pardeshi said, "Victim was strangled to death. Her body was found in sugarcane farm."

The postmortem reported confirmed that she was raped, said Pardeshi.

Officials from Yavat police station have registered the offence under IPC sections 302 and 376.

Pardeshi said, "The police have formed different teams and the leads available with the police at present make us believe that there could be once person involved in the crime."

Based on the statements of school authorities, police said, the accused may have picked up victim when she was returning home from the school.